I officially hate August in my Savannah garden. What the heat has not baked to a crisp, the frog-choking, gully washing rain has flattened.

If it’s an annual plant — flower or veggie — if it’s not already dead, it’s drying and dying.

August is depressing.

The steady march of days in the high 90s with three-digit heat indexes takes a toll on gardens and gardeners. If there is a tolerable morning or evening with temperatures that are barely standable, the mosquitoes and sand gnats take over. If the drought and heat were not enough, now the number of local mosquitoes testing with the West Nile virus is up. Well now, I give.

Since it is too hot to “do,” I’ve taken to looking closely, slowly. Trying to find beauty and peace in the landscape of my yard — overgrown and mangled as it is.

It is there — the tiny five-lined skink with its iridescent blue tail must be a newly hatched youngster. He — or she — scampers through the leaf litter left in the bed where I cut back the “limelight” hydrangea. A golden orb weaver spider — nowhere near her full size yet — spins a web attaching a slender branch of the mock orange to the screen porch. By the end of September, she will be a big as my hand and her web will a hazard to navigation.

A house wren has made one more nest in the overhead light fixture on the front porch. This will make four nests this summer — this one very late. I long ago gave up trying to keep the little songbirds out of the light and have learned to live with the Spanish moss that trails down untidily in front of the front door. It is a small price to pay for her cheery song each summer.

One brave perennial plant — I have long since forgotten its name — blazes with red tubular flowers in the front bed, and red salvia still clings to life beside the garage. The two are enough to attract a half dozen humming birds each early morning.

There is still plenty to do. When in doubt (or in hot or in drought), mulch. Keeping the mulch in your beds refreshed is one way to keep the summer doldrums from winning in the garden. An additional thin layer of your favorite mulch — grass clippings, leaves, pine straw or the like will protect the roots of your plans from drying out. Add manure or other organic material to enrich depleted and tired soil.

Water deeply rather than frequently. Deep waterings keep the roots growing down in search of moisture; shallow frequent waterings keep roots near the surface, where they are more likely to dry out.

Take a walk around your yard now and reevaluate where plants are. Maybe those tender plants need to be moved to a shadier spot. Make notes so you remember what you want to move when the prime transplant season come around in the fall.

There is life here, beauty too, despite the parched grass and rangy weeds. If it ever cools off, I will enjoy enjoying it all.

Gail Krueger writes the Savannah Weeder column and about her other passion, pets. Send her an email at savannahweeder@yahoo.com.